Steam superheater



Nov. 14, 1933. H, E, GEER STEAM SUPERHEATER 2 Sheets-$heet l Filed Aug.31, 1932 Xvi.

Nov. 14, 1933. H. E. GEER 1,935,049

STEAM SUPERHEATER Filed Aug. 31, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 14 INVENTORATTORNEY Patented Nov. 1 4, 1933 I UNITED STATE reason c o STEAMSUPERHEATER Henry Edward Gear, LondolnEngland, assignon -to The:Superheater Company,- N ew York,

Application August '31, 1932, Serial No. 631,210, 7 and in GreatBritainseptember 18, 1931 This invention relates to steam superheater ofthe type in which the individual elements in a group or groups orbanksof superheater elements (usually and preferably elements of the returnbend or U-loop type) have their steam inlet and outlet ends connected toseparate headers and extend downwardly and depend from the headers. Sucha superheater maybe one associated with a stationary steam-generator orboiler of the multidrum-type, for instance a tri drum boiler Ina boilerof the-type above-mentionedtheremay be as usual two headers, each ofwhich may be tubular and circular in cross section, the saturated steamdistributor or header conveniently being disposed above the superheatedorheader.

The present invention has for' its principal object to provide a methodof and means forcgunteracting or neutralizing the' severe strains andstresses set up on the headers by the weight of the depending elements,which strains and stresses, by tendingto rotate theheadersabout 7 theirlongitudinal axesfare liable to result in serious damage to the meansemployed for sup porting and-securing the headers in position, and alsoto steam pipes or other fittingswhichmay be connected to the headers. tt

Heretofore 'so'far as I am aware no method or means-has been provided tocounteract the tendency of the weight of the elements of a"s;u perheaterof the kind indicated. above to-rotate steam. receiver theheaders abouttheir axess t I In itsrbro'adest aspect the-invention consists in theprovision in a steam superheater of means whereby'the load on a headertending to rotate it in its mountings is counteracted or substan: tiallybalanced by-the load on, and tending to rotate, another header of thesuperheater. In other words the invention consists in utilizing the loadof the elements distributed on to one header and tending to'rotate it onitsaxisto balance, or substantially balance, the. load ofthe elementsdistributed on to the other header and similarly tending to rotate suchother header 0 about its axis.

eral surfaces of the respective headers,- whereby the load oftheelements.directly'distributed on and tending to rotate a header istransmitted to and tendsto rotate the other header in adirectionopposite'to that inwhich the load of the elements directlydistributed on it tends to rotate it.

In theaccompanying drawings:-

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a portion of a tri-drum water tubeboiler having a steam superheater to the headers of which anchoringmeans according to the present invention areapplied.

t Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional View of the headers shown inFig. 1;and illustrating oneembodiment of the header anchoring means accordingto the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a View of portions of. the headers shown in Fig. 2 equippedwith the anchoring therein :shown as seen from the left of th 'fi' n f YFig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 butillustrating other embodiments ofthe inventionwhich will be described hereinafter. H

Referringfirst to Fig. 1, 1 is the .steam and -water"drumof the boiler,2 being the front bank of water tubes, 3' the circulators from the othersteam and water drum and 4 the equalizing tubes; 5 and 6 indicate U-loop or serpentinesuperheatrelements, the. inlet portions .7. 7 .ofwhichare connected to the saturated'steam'header 9 and the outletportions 8; ,8 of which are similarly the, headers 9 andglObeing'arr'anged one above the other and carried in anyusualjor'appropriate, cradles or mountings, and clamped. in position bymeans such as the usual U-shaped straps. An examination of Fig. 1- willshow that the superheater elements 5 and Gare connected to the headers 9and 10 and along a portion of their periphery to the left of thelongitudinal vertical plane through the centre of the headers and. abovethe central horizontal planes of the respective headers. This is a wellknown arrangement of headers and elements and whilst efficient in mostrespects is subject to a disadvantage in that the weight of thedepending elements tends to rotate the headers about their longitudinalaxes. As above indicated'it is the object of the present inventiontoprovide means to overcome this disadvantage and according to thepresent invention the headers are anchored to one another bymeans whichwill now be described.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the headersare secured together 'connectedlto the superheater steam header 1 0,

or anchored to one another by an S shaped strap or plate 11 the concavesurfaces of which lie close to oppositely facing portions of theperipheral surfaces of the respective headers as will be clearly seen inFig. 2. p The straps 11 are secured to the headers by screws 12extendingthrough holes in the strap and engaged in tapped holes in theheader wall.

It will be appreciated that in the superheater construction andarrangement shown in Fig. 1 the weight of the elements tends to rotateboth headers in an anti-clockwise directionl about their longitudinalaxes. In a superheater equipped with anchoring means according to theinvention and as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 a strain or load put upon thelower header 1O tending to rotate it in an anti-clockwise direction willbe transmitted through the strap 11 to the header 9 and tend to rotatesuch header in a clockwise direction against the weight of the elementswhich are tending to rotate said header in an anti-clockwise direction.Thus the load on the lower header will be oounteracted or neutralized bythe load on the upper header. Similarly of course the load tending torotate the upper header is balanced or counteracted by the load on thelower header.

In the construction shown in Figs. 2- and 3 the strain on the strap 11is transferred from one header to the strap and from the strap to theother header through the screws 12. In the alternative embodiment of theinvention shown in Fig. 4 each header has welded to it two blocks 13,and two blocks 14 are welded to each concave face of the strap 11. Theblocks on the headers and strap are so disposed in relation to oneanother that the adjacent faces of each two blocks 13, 14 abut againstone another and the blocks serve to transmit the strains from theheaders to the strap and vice versa. The blocks associated with theupper header 9 in Fig. 4 are shown with their engaging faces radially ofthe header whereas the surfaces of the blocks 13 secured to the header10 are undercut and the engaging faces of the blocks 14 correspondinglyformed. The strap 11 in the construction shown in Fig. 4 is secured tothe headers by screws 12 extending into tapped holes in the blocks 13.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the concavesurfaces of the strap snugly fit the peripheral surfaces of the headers.In the construction. shown in Fig. 4 the concave surfaces of the strap11 are spaced from the peripheries of the headers by the provision ofthe blocks 13 and 14 but the strap is so formed that its intermediate orstraight portion contacts with the peripheries of the headers at thepoints marked 15 in Fig. 4.

I The inventionis not restricted to the number of straps employed on anygiven pair of headers, but usually two straps relatively close togetherapproximately mid-way of the length of the headers will be foundsuincient. Also the invention is not restricted to the straps beingsecured to headers by the means shown in the drawings as other meansmight be employed, for instance the straps might be welded to theheaders. Also it is to be understood that the invention is notrestricted to steam superheaters comprising two headers only as it maybe employed in superheaters having more than two headers but with theelements so disposed and connected to the headers that the weight of theelements tends to rotate the headers about their longitudinal axes.Further the anchoring means according to the present invention may beapplied to headers arranged otherwise than in the same vertical plane.

What I claim is: r

1'. The combination of a plurality of headers supported at their ends sothat each header is free of the weight of the other, at-least betweensupports, fluid conducting means connected thereto intermediate thesupport therefor and so 105 arranged that the weight of such means tendsto rotate said headers, and a member connected between said headers andso arranged'that the tendency of one header to rotate is transmitted toanother and reacts against the tendency of 110 such other header torotate. V Y

2. A steam superheater comprising two headers supported at their ends sothat each header is free of the weight of the other at least betweensupports and superheater elements connected thereto intermediate thesupport therefor and so disposed that the weight of said elements tendsto rotate said headers about. their longitudinal axes, and a memberconnected between said headers and so arranged that the tendency 120 torotate of one header is transmitted to the other and reacts against thetendency of such other header to rotate.

3. A steam superheater as set forth in claim 2 and in which thesuperheaterelements tend 125 to rotate both headers about their axes inthe same direction, and in which the member connected between theheaders isa strap of S-like form.

HENRY EDWARD GEER.

